loading...
The Secretary-General -- Message on World Population Day
Forty years ago, world leaders proclaimed that individuals have a basic right to
determine freely and responsibly the number and timing of their children. Millennium
Development Goal 5, improving maternal health, affirms this right and yet shows the
least progress to date. On World Population Day, let us focus on the critical importance
of family planning if we are to successfully achieve the Millennium Development Goals.
The rate of death for women as they give birth remains the starkest indicator of
the disparity between rich and poor, both within and among countries. We already know
what needs to be done to meet the basic health needs of women throughout their life
cycle, especially during the reproductive years, pregnancy and childbirth. There are three
basic interventions necessary to improve maternal health: skilled attendance at the time of
birth, facilities to provide emergency obstetric care and family planning.
Family planning is a fundamental component of reproductive health as it allows
for determining the spacing of pregnancies. Studies show that family planning has
immediate benefits for the lives and health of mothers and their infants. Ensuring basic
access to family planning could reduce maternal deaths by a third and child deaths by as
much as 20 per cent.
And yet the benefits of family planning remain out of reach for many, especially
for those who often have the hardest time getting the information and services they need
to plan their families, such as the poor, marginalized populations and young people.
Demand will only increase, as more than one billion people ages 1524
enter their reproductive years.
I call on Governments to honour the commitments made at the International
Conference on Population and Development. At the Cairo Conference, nations agreed
that all couples and individuals have the basic human right to not only decide freely and
responsibly the number and spacing of their children, but also to have the information,
education and means to do so.
As we intensify our efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, let us
take action to reduce maternal mortality and achieve universal access to reproductive
health by 2015. Let us devote greater attention and resources to the work to improve the
health and quality of life for all people.
determine freely and responsibly the number and timing of their children. Millennium
Development Goal 5, improving maternal health, affirms this right and yet shows the
least progress to date. On World Population Day, let us focus on the critical importance
of family planning if we are to successfully achieve the Millennium Development Goals.
The rate of death for women as they give birth remains the starkest indicator of
the disparity between rich and poor, both within and among countries. We already know
what needs to be done to meet the basic health needs of women throughout their life
cycle, especially during the reproductive years, pregnancy and childbirth. There are three
basic interventions necessary to improve maternal health: skilled attendance at the time of
birth, facilities to provide emergency obstetric care and family planning.
Family planning is a fundamental component of reproductive health as it allows
for determining the spacing of pregnancies. Studies show that family planning has
immediate benefits for the lives and health of mothers and their infants. Ensuring basic
access to family planning could reduce maternal deaths by a third and child deaths by as
much as 20 per cent.
And yet the benefits of family planning remain out of reach for many, especially
for those who often have the hardest time getting the information and services they need
to plan their families, such as the poor, marginalized populations and young people.
Demand will only increase, as more than one billion people ages 1524
enter their reproductive years.
I call on Governments to honour the commitments made at the International
Conference on Population and Development. At the Cairo Conference, nations agreed
that all couples and individuals have the basic human right to not only decide freely and
responsibly the number and spacing of their children, but also to have the information,
education and means to do so.
As we intensify our efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, let us
take action to reduce maternal mortality and achieve universal access to reproductive
health by 2015. Let us devote greater attention and resources to the work to improve the
health and quality of life for all people.